Automatic variable-volume mixing dispenser



May 7, 1968 A. F. BLANCHET 3,381,854

AUTOMATIC VARIABLE-VOLUME MIXING DISPENSER Filed June 5, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 F/GI/ INVENTOR fl/VD/PE Fmwca/s Emmy/7 BY 5a fi g a awflam ATTORNEYS May 7, 1968 A. F. BLANCHET 3,381,354

AUTOMATIC VARIABLE-VOLUME MIXING DISPENSER Filed June 5, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 53 IINVVEV NTOR ATTORNEYS May 7, 1968 A. F. BLANCHET AUTOMATIC VARIABLE-VOLUME MIXING DISPENSER 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 3, 1966 ATTORNEYS May 7, 1968 A. F. BLANCHET 3,381,354

AUTOMATIC VARIABLE-VOLUME MIXING DISPENSER Filed June 5, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 lNVENTOR fl/VflPE FPI/YCO/S Eli/7:175]- BY M W MI W"'M ATTORNEYS wmg i III III United States Patent 7 Claims. icl. 222-2 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE There is disclosed apparatus for dispensing, in exchange for a coin of fixed denomination, a volume of a liquid such as gasoline, the volume dispensed varying inversely With an adjustable price per unit volume. In this apparatus, acceptance of a coin permits a piston to be lowered in a cylinder until the piston or a member coupled thereto brings up against a stop which is coupled to a movable price per unit volume indicating mechanism. The higher the price per unit volume set on this mechanism, the shorter the stroke permitted by the stop to the piston and hence the less the cylinder is permitted to fill with liquid before, on rise of the piston, the contents of the cylinder are delivered to the purchaser. The couplingo-f the price indicating mechanism to the stop may be hyperbolic, permitting linear calibration of the price indicating means. Valve means connect the cylinder .to a supply line during descent of the piston and to a delivery line on r-ise thereof. A second cylinder is provided having a piston therein coupled through a variable ratio drive to the piston in the first cylinder, so as to rise when the first piston falls and vice versa, and further valve means connect the second cylinder to a second supply line and to the first cylinder while the second piston falls and rises respectively. In this way oil can be added in an adjustably fixable proportion to the gasoline dispensed, as for use in two stroke cycle gasoline engines.

The present invention relates generally to intermit'tent type liquid dispensers and more particularly to a coinopera-ted mixing dispenser having automatic adjustment means for controlling the volume of liquid dispensed in accordance with the value of the operating coin.

Intermittent mixing dispensers are known in which the two liquids to be mixed are introduced simultaneously, in a predetermined ratio, into a main cylinder forming the metering chamber in which the movement of a piston driven by the pressure of the main liquid drives a second piston which moves in an auxiliary cylinder and forces a predetermined volume of an additive liquid for admixture into the main cylinder as the latter is being filled. The volume of the mixture produced by the main piston in the main cylinder is at all times absolutely constant and corresponds to a predetermined unit of volume (one liter, for example).

In apparatus such as that described above, delivery cannot readily be made to be triggered automatically by the insertion of coins since the unit price does not usually correspond to the value of a single coin.

Also known are intermittent dispensers which deliver a predetermined volume of liquid upon insertion of a token. The tokens used may have a value that is based on the unit price of a conventional unit of volume. Any unit price change thus necessarily entails a change in the value of the token since the volume delivered is fixed. Such apparatus has the drawback that tokens lend themselves to counterfeiting more readily than does a coin struck from a noncommercial metal. Moreover, the prospect of 3,381,854 Patented May 7, 1968 an upward revision of the unit price will prompt buyers to stock up on tokens. In addition, unit prices often differ from one area to another, and different tokens would therefore have to be provided for each price zone in order that a given token might not have dilferent values, depending on the areas where the apparatus is to be installed.

Vending machines are also known which deliver a container holding a certain amount of liquid upon the insertion and automatic collection of a coin representing the price of the volume of liquid and of the container, whether the latter is disposable or redeemable after use for a stipulated arbitrary amount. Such equipment has the disadvantage of being adapted only to the automatic delivery of a number of full cans that is limited by the size of the apparatus and of requiring frequent inspection and refilling. It is evident from the foregoing that the sale of liquid in bulk by means of apparatus having a metering chamber of fixed, predetermined volume coupled with an automatic price-collecting system makes it necessary for the customer to have with him the requisite variety of coins to buy a volume unit, and for the collecting device to be adjustable to changes in the posted unit prices, which gives rise to considerable and troublesome mechanical complications.

The present invention seeks to remedy the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art devices and has as its object the provision of an automatic metering liquid dispenser which upon the insertion of a coin dispenses a quantity of liquid that is delivered intermittently in such a Way that each volume delivered corresponds to the amount of the coin deposited, on the basis of the unit price.

The apparatus provided by the present invention comprises a variable-volume metering device that is combined with an automatic volume adjusting means comprising a movable stop whose position is determined by the simultaneous indication of the unit price and of the volume corresponding to the value of a given coin, and a coininsertion arrangement which triggers the delivery of the set and indicated volume upon collection of the coin, and a proportioning device combined with the main metering system for supplying the volume to be dispensed simultaneously from two liquids in an indicated fixed ratio.

Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be discussed in connection with the following descriptions of the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a dispenser in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail of the device for changing the mixing ratio;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged detail of the oil mixing cock;

FIG. 4 is an elevation view of a second preferred embodiment of a volume-adjusting device;

FIG. 5 is an elevation view of a third preferred embodiment of a volume-adjusting device;

FIG. 6 is an elevation view of a fourth preferred em bodiment of a volume-adjusting device;

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic sectional view of the device shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a further variable-volume mixer provided by the invention; and

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a variablevolume dispenser.

The apparatus provided by the present invention is particularly suitable for dispensing a mixture of two liquid-s such as gasoline and oil. With reference to the figures, it will be seen that the automatic dispenser is composed of a metering and proportioning section formed by the metering cylinder 1 in which the piston 3 moves, the latter being attached to a rod 5 that is provided with a rack a. Piston 3 is pushed into its high position by a spring 72. A second cylinder 2 of generally smaller diameter than the first is provided, preferably mounted adjacent to the first as shown. A piston 4 moves inside said cylinder 2, its extension 6 being likewise provided with a rack 6a, racks 5a and 6a meshing with a pinion 54 that runs loose on the shaft 56, said shaft 56 being fixed in the housing of the apparatus, the arrangement being such that one of the pistons rises while the other is forced to descend, and vice versa.

A flow-control cock 8 disposed at the top of cylinders 1 and 2 alternately connects the cylinder 1 to the gasoline inlet pipe 7 and to the liquid outlet pipe 9, with the liquid passing through the passage 73 in the plug of cock 8, and connects the cylinder 2 alternately to the oil reservoir 55 through the passage 74 (see FIG. 3) in the plug of cock 8 and to cylinder 1 through passage 75 in the plug of cock. 8. The plug of said cock 8 is linked by a lever 34 and a connecting rod 36 to a coin-controlled actuating device as shown. To adjust the volume delivered by piston 3 to the unit price fixed for one legal volume unit of the product, the downward stroke of the piston is limited by causing the lower end of rod 5 to strike an adjustable stop 10. Said stop 10 is mounted in an adjusting block 11 whose upper part has a channel 11a forming a helical incline of hyperbolic profile that is engaged by a stud 13 fixed in the guide 12, which is integral with the housing of the dispenser. The lower part of the adjusting block 11 is formed by a helical gear 15 meshing with another helical gear 14 which is connected through a shaft 16, bevel gears 17 and 18, a shaft 19 and another bevel-gear pair 20, 21 to an indicater displaying simultaneously the unit price of a volume unit by means of wheels 27 and the volume delivered for the selected monetary unit by means of the drum 26, which is connected to said wheels through a gear set 22;, 23, 24, 25, said volume being inversely proportional to the unit price. The indication is adjusted by means of a knob 76.

The starting of the metering and proportioning device is governed by a coin-controlled actuating device. A coin mechanism (not shown) receives the coin, checks it and passes the checked and accepted coin to an inlet chute 29 provided in the stationary casing 30, which passes it into a milled slot '31 provided in a cam 32. Said cam 32 is linked by a lever arm 35 and connecting rod 36 to a spring 33, which pulls it toward a fixed stop (not shown). The plug of cock 8 is likewise rotatably connected to the rod through a lever 34. Cam 32 is free to turn on the shaft 37 and has a peripheral notch 46. Pinned to said shaft 37 is a cocking cam 38 that is actuated by means of a lever 39. Said cam 38 has a drive dog 78 and is formed by a cylindrical portion with a cog 42 and a semicircular portion 47 adapted to be interposed between the bottom of rod 5 and the adjustable stop 10 during the cocking and collecting movement. A nonreturn pawl urged by a spring 41, and a second pawl 43 urged by a spring 44, rock on a common shaft 79 that is fixed in the housing of the apparatus.

A rod 49 is integral with a piston 50 sliding in a cylinder 5]. that communicates to the supply pipe 7 through the conduit 53. Said piston 50 is driven to the low position by a spring 52. To permit changing the mixing ratio of the liquid drawn by piston 4 and of the liquid entering cylinder 1 through pipe 7, the pinion 54 is replaced by an arrangement (FIG. 2) comprising, for example, three pairs of gears 59, 60, 61 and 80, 81, 82, with gear 81 which is integral with gears 80 and 82 meshing with the rack 5a of piston rod 5 while a gear 62 meshes with the rack 6a of rod 6. The gears 59, 60, 61 are free to turn on shaft 58, said shaft 58 comprising one or more keys 63 which engage an internal keyway of the gears when shaft 58 is displaced longitudinally, thus interlocking it with one of the gears corresponding to a required mixing ratio, gear 62 remaining in constant engagement with the shaft 58 through a sliding key. The sliding movement of shaft 58 is controlled by a knob that is rigidly secured to a shaft 66 carrying a pinion which meshes with a rack 64 on shaft 58, and a notched disk which is likewise rigidly secured to shaft 66. A lever 68 that is urged into its inoperative position by a spring 69 against a stud 70 serves to prevent recocking of the actuating device when the keys 63 are not in the proper position. The arm 68:: of lever 68 drops into a recess 77 in the cam 32 and then butt-s against a stud 71 which prevents the earn from rotating.

The principle of operation of the dispenser is as follows. The deposited coin, if accepted upon being checked, drops into the slot 31 in cam 32 ahead of the drive dog 78 of cam 38. When cam 38 is turned counterclockwise by means of lever 39, the coin serves as a coupling member in driving cam 32 in the same direction, and driving with it the lever 35, the connecting rod 36 and the plug of cock 8, which moves the passage 73 into a position permitting cylinder 1 to be filled by the pipe 7.

However, the semicircular portion 47 of cam 38 is located under the end of the piston rod and prevents it from moving even when pumping is inadvertently started as soon as cock 8 allows access to the liquid forced through pipe 7. When the vicinity of the coin-collecting chute 45 is reached, the pawl 40 drops into notch 42 in cam 38 and prevents any backward motion. During the further rotation, the coin is carried before the chute 45 and the pawl of lever 43 drops into notch 46 in cam 32, thereby locking it and allowing the coin to be collected. By dropping into notch 46, lever 43 simultaneously drives the tail end of the nonreturn pawl 40 by means 'of the stud 48, which releases cam 38 and enables it to turn backward under the action of the return spring (not shown). By this return movement, the semicircular portion 47 of cam 38 releases the piston rod, thus permitting pumping and feeding the cylinder. In descending, the piston rod, in turn, locks cam 38 by passing in front of the straight cutoff of the semicircular portion 47 to release it only upon completion of the delivery.

While piston 3 descends, piston 4 rises and forces oil through passage 75 into cylinder 1, where it is intimately mixed with gasoline fed in through pipe 7.

When the volume allowed :by stop 10 is reached, the piston is unable to descend further; the pressure rises and through pipe 53 acts upon the underside of piston 50, whose rod 49 raises the lever 43 which, being retracted from notch 46, releases the cam 32. The spring 33 simultaneously pulls the cock 8 and the cam 32 into the delivery position (FIG. 2), but the mechanism is not released until the piston has completed its return stroke.

During the return stroke, piston 3 produces the discharge of liquid into pipe 9 while piston 4 during its downward stroke draws oil from the oil reservoir 55 through the passage 74. The proportion of the oil so drawn is dependent upon the respective diameters of the pistons, appropriately selected with a View to delivering a single batch of mixture. For delivery of several batches, the proportions are determined by the ratio selected for the gear trains 59, 60, 61 and 8t), 81, 82.

Another coin can :be inserted only when the delivery can no longer be stopped, that is to say, when the slot 31 is again located in proximity to the drive dog of cam 38, the inlet chute being obstructed by the periphery of cam 32 during the entire feeding process.

The volume to be delivered is varied by means of the knob 76, which permits the simultaneous display of the unit price fixed for one legal volume unit of the product and of the volume delivered for the particular coin denomination used. Since that latter volume is equal to the inverse of the unit price, the volume change due to a change in unit price is hyperbolic and requires a displacement of stop 10 in accordance with an hyperbolic law.

This hyperbolic displacement is realized by means of the helical channel 11a in the adjusting block 11 having the form of an hyperbolic incline; however, a horizontal drum 83 (FIG. 4) having steps 85 limiting the stroke of the rod 5 to the exact value which corresponds to the volume to be dispensed as the exchange value of a monetary unit may be provided as an adjustable stop for the rod 5 without departing from the scope of the invention. The circumference of the drum then displays the unit prices for one legal volume uni-t and the volume delivered for one monetary unit. The drum is rotated by means of a knob that is rigidly secured to a worm 84 meshing with the rim 88 of the drum, with one revolution of the knob corresponding, for example, to a one-step displacement.

Another mode of execution of the stop is a cam of hyperbolic profile 89 (FIG. 5) which in itself serves as a stop for the rod 5. It is actuated by a knob 76 which through a shaft is fixed to a worm 84 meshing with a gear 88 that is integral with the cam.

According to a third embodiment, a drum 91 (FIGS. 6 and 7) is provided with the unit prices and corresponding volumes on its circumference and comprises a fixed stop 92 whose position is adjustable by means of knob 76 whose shank engages holes 93 provided in the disk 91a that forms part of drum 91. A stop 90 that rotates with the gear 54 comes to butt against the 'fixed stop 92, limiting the stroke of rod 5 to the volume to be delivered for all amounts which can be indexed for a rotation of less than one piston stroke.

Also within the scope of the invention is the structural arrangement illustrated in FIG. 8 wherein the rod 5 of piston 3 functions as a piston for the delivery of oil and the stop 10 is located in the top of cylinder 1 to limit the delivery stroke to the required value. Similarly, the selfservice device may, without departing from the invention, be used with an intermittent single-liquid dispenser in which the stop limiting the stroke on the basis of the unit price of the liquid is formed by a sleeve 10 (FIG. 9)

in which the piston rod 5 moves and which is screwed into'the bottom of the cylinder so that the piston butts against the sleeve in its downward stroke, the sleeve being made to extend a grea-ter or less distance into the cylinder, depending upon the unit price of the liquid, by being rotated by means of gears connected to a setting knob 76.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated, it Will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for dispensing in exchange for a coin of given denomination a volume of liquid varying inversely with price per unit volume, said apparatus comprising a cylinder substantially closed at one end, a piston in the cylinder, a supply conduit, a delivery conduit, valve means for connecting the interior of the cylinder selectively with the supply conduit and with the delivery conduit, a motion-limiting member coupled to the piston, a stop adjustably fixable at any one of plural positions in the path of motion of the member upon motion of the piston away from said one end of the cylinder, movable indicating means, means coupling the indicating means to the stop, coin-controlled means to set the valve means to connect the interior of the cylinder with the supply conduit, and means responsive to engagement of the member wit-h the stop to shift the valve means to connect the cylinder to the delivery conduit.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 including a second cylinder substantially closed at one end, a piston in the second cylinder, a further supply conduit, second valve means coupled to the first-mentioned valve means to connect the second cylinder to the first-named cylinder when the ifirst-named cylinder is connected to the first-named supply conduit and to connect the second cylinder to the further supply conduit when the first-named cylinder is connected to the delivery conduit, and means coupling said pistons together 'for motion in opposite phases toward and away from the closed ends of their respective cylinders.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the coupling means relate the motion of the stop inversely to the motion of t-he indicating means.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the coupling means relate hyperbolically the motion of the indicating means and of the stop.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the coupling means comprise a helical thread of hyperbolic pitch.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the stop comprises a cam whose height varies byperbolically with position of the cam.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the stop comprises a drum whose height varies substantially hyperbolically with angle about the axis of the drum.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,260,335 3/1918 C 'ordley 222-2 1,544,193 6/ 1925 Snowden 222-14 1,617,873 2/1927 Sturtevant 222-21 1,834,765 12/1931 Brahy 222-2 2,123,737 7/1938 Lewis 222-309 2,769,573 11/1956 Miller 222-309 X 2,795,361 6/1957 Pechy 222-440 2,885,119 5/1959 Carriol 222-72 3,040,930 6/ 1962 Blanchet 222-2 3,141,583 7/1964 Mapel et a1 222-309 3,151,778 10/1964 Olney et a1 222-309 X SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner. RAPHAEL M. LUPO, Examiner. 

